The bill, S.B. No. 897, aims to amend the Government Code to establish new conditions for matching grants provided to community mental health programs that assist veterans and their families. Specifically, it modifies the requirements for grant recipients based on the population of the counties served. For single counties, the bill stipulates that a grant recipient must provide non-state funding equal to 25% of the grant amount for counties with populations under 100,000, or 50% for those with populations of 100,000 or more. The previous requirement for counties with populations of 250,000 or more has been removed. Similarly, for programs serving multiple counties, the same matching conditions apply based on the largest county's population.

The bill also clarifies that these changes will only apply to grants awarded on or after the effective date of the Act, which is September 1, 2025. Grants awarded prior to this date will continue to be governed by the existing law. Additionally, the implementation of these changes by the Health and Human Services Commission is contingent upon the legislature appropriating sufficient funds specifically for this purpose. If such funding is not provided, the commission may choose to implement the changes using other available funds.